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Behind the Scene

From Barisal
Barisal's Famous Gouro Nitai Mishtanno Bhandar

Md. Badrul Alam

Most of us know of Gouro Nitai Mishtanno Bhandar's delicious khirpuri and doi, but for those of us who don't, we may introduce Gouro Nitai as the source of all sweetmeat provided in marriage ceremonies in Barisal since the 1960s. The famous sweets are served as dessert on most occasions especially at weddings. The demand for these sweets has been increasing for decades.

The mishtanno bhandar, which means the sweetmeat shop, is located in Gouranadi Bazaar, which at present falls under the Gouranadi Thana. Now, the 75-year-old Sachin Ghosh is the owner of the sweetmeat shop. He had initially started making sweets and doi (yogurt) at his own home back in the 1960s. He then supplied the homemade sweets to several families living in different villages under Gouranadi Thana. Soon his sweets started gaining popularity among the people of the village and those from the surrounding villages. The increasing popularity of his sweets, especially the yogurt that he made, eventually led to the establishment of the Goura Nitai Mishtanno Bhandar. When he had first started off, he had only one shop at the Gouranadi port of Barisal, but the demand for his sweets has made it possible for him to open another big store in Mridharoad of the Gouranadi port.

Sachin Ghosh informs us that business is good as he sells about 250 kgs of sweets every day! He has 12 sweetmeat experts working for him and the products are also supplied to several other sweetmeat shops in the southern part of Barisal. It is the hard work and determination of Sachin Ghosh and his sweetmeat experts that has resulted in such good business, which in turn has allowed for a well-settled and happy family life for Sachin.

Two of his four sons are settled abroad and the other two, Sridham Ghosh and Gowrango Ghosh are now directly involved in their father's business. Gowrango Ghosh, who has completed his Bachelor's degree in Commerce says, “Business has flourished by the grace of God and my father's hard work. It has made us all happy, given our family an identity and has allowed us to live in this society with dignity and respect.”